Aquawoman gets a chance to cut loose, revealing Mera-like water control powers, but then takes her leave to check in on Atlantis.  Batman leads his gang of rebels to the Batcave where they discover two refugees that Hawkgirl rescued, Dr. Fate and Red Arrow.  And we actually learn Red Arrow’s true identity, which is… iiiiinteresting.

The entire rest of this issue is a pep talk between Lois Lane/Red Tornado and Val, the Kryptonian that the heroes rescued last issue.  It turns out, spending his life in a space capsule and a containment cell have left him agoraphobic which doesn’t make him a huge help to the heroes who are being assaulted by Darkseid’s forces including an evil Superman, but Lois throws some insight into that shocker.

This is a really laid back issue, but the art by Robson Rocha and Barry Kitson delivers and looks great.  In fact, I think it’s a compliment that an artist (or artists) can deliver tons of emotion and drama in a very “talky” story without much action.

This series has stepped up since Tom Taylor took over scripting it.  Things are really coming together and this book is more engaging than it was under James Robinson.  I would like to see more of the initial cast, including Green Lantern and The Flash, but… the fact that this is a down-played issue focusing on sideline characters, it was still interesting and engaging.  The art was nice as well.

atoms_3

 

EARTH 2 #20
Writer: Tom Taylor
Pencils: Barry Kitson and Robson Rocha